Shabana Mahmood
Mahmood’s recent promotion to home secretary demonstrates her strong standing with Keir Starmer and would make her an obvious candidate favored by No. 10. But her Blue Labour-style politics will put off those party members who still tilt left, while her burgeoning Home Office in-tray means she has a lot on her plate.
David Lammy
After taking the deputy prime minister mantle from Angela Rayner (a consolation for losing those cushy government flights) there could be a case for Lammy going for her old deputy leader gig too. But huge pressure from MPs and unions for a female deputy means the new justice secretary’s gender could work against him.
Alison McGovern
There has been weekend chatter about McGovern, shuffled from the DWP to housing, and could be more given she is due at a long-arranged fringe panel at the TUC Congress this lunchtime. One union ally reckons McGovern (a former Progress chair who was also a big fan of Gordon Brown) has the potential to be a compromise candidate for No. 10 backing: “She’s a minister but she doesn’t have the toxic baggage.”
Rosena Allin-Khan
The A&E doctor came second in the last deputy leadership contest and is being urged to stand again. While unlikely to go all-in on attacking the leadership, her rebellion on Labour’s welfare reforms and criticism of the government’s Gaza policies could endear her to parts of the membership.
Emily Thornberry
She confirmed Sunday she is “thinking about” standing for deputy leader. The Foreign Affairs Committee chair — who was passed over for a Cabinet job by Starmer — has been increasingly critical of the prime minister, and warned further mistakes could lead to “hand[ing] our country to Farage.” (St. George flags and all.)
Louise Haigh
Her name was being floated over the weekend, nine months after she was effectively forced to resign from Starmer’s Cabinet over a decade-old fraud conviction. A standard-bearer of the soft left, an ally of the unions like Rayner and could be a headache for No. 10 (though an ally told PoliticsHome’s Sienna Rodgers she isn’t planning to run).